Renewable Energy Community Preparedness Index

Transcription

1 Renewable Energy Community Andrew Dane, Dan Downing, Dan Kahl, Pete Kling, Anne Silvis, *Adapted from: Community Economic Development * Center for Community and Economic Development University of Wisconsin-Extension

2 Please fill out the following fields to complete the index for your community. Your responses will be confidential. First Name: Last Name: Address: Affiliation/Organization: Position: Community Where You Live: Name of Community You Are Evaluating (Indicate City, Village, Town, County): The purpose of this preparedness index is to help analyze questions community decision makers might consider as they evaluate impacts and opportunities associated with: 1. Producing dedicated bioenergy crops and/or harvesting woody biomass (supply chain), 2. Collecting, refining, and processing biomass for ethanol, co-generation, heating or electricity generation (industrial development). For a more complete list of questions that explore issues and opportunities associated with bioenergy production, see the discussion guides for the Bioenergy and Renewable Energy Community Assessment toolkit ( Sections I-III of the index are based on your perception of activities and conditions in the community (Note that you may or may not have some level of control over these aspects). Sections IV-VI are indications of community preparedness for establishing a bioenergy refining industry. These questions will help assess the environment and infrastructure support for bioenergy refining industry projects. The compiled responses will provide a reflection of the community s readiness to: Produce dedicated bioenergy crops Produce energy from biomass Use energy from biomass

3 Community Opinion Section Sections I, II, & III To complete the assessment, please check the circle that best reflects your level of agreement with the stated item. If you strongly agree with the statement check the far left circle. If you are not as strongly in agreement with the statement check one of the boxes on the right side of the scale. If you don t know the answer, check the far right circle. SA Strongly Agree A Agree D Disagree SD Strongly Disagree? Don t Know I. ECONOMIC QUESTIONS Biomass Production 1. Our city council/village/town board actively supports renewable energy development activities through funding, policies and programs. 2. Anticipated income will exceed the cost of specialized equipment or skill training needed for growing or harvesting bioenergy crops. 3. Area farmers/landowners/loggers are currently engaged in discussions around biomass production and/or energy production. 4. Land owners/managers will realize a profit on their investment within 0-5 years. 5. Land owners/managers will take more than 5 years to realize a profit on their investment. 3

4 6. Once established, the biomass market should be economically profitable and stable (not prone to significant fluctuations). 7. Increasing the number of acres dedicated to the production of bioenergy crops will not negatively impact the price of other crops and/or the availability of feed crops. Biomass Collection, Refining, and Processing 8. A biomass collection/refining/processing facility would create jobs that pay a living wage. 9. A biomass collection/refining/processing facility will contribute to our community's economy through job creation, increased spending, induced economic impact, etc. 10. A biomass collection/refining/processing facility will lead to increased tax revenue. 11. A biomass collection/refining/processing facility will not have a negative impact on area land prices. 12. A biomass collection/refining/processing facility will not require public investment. 13. The community will not be expected to provide additional infrastructure (such as road, sewer lines, etc.) to support the biomass collection/refining/processing facility 14. A biomass collection/refining/processing facility is eligible for TIF financing. 4

5 II. ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS Biomass Production 15. Bioenergy crop production and harvest activities will not reduce nutrient availability and soil organic matter of agricultural soils. 16. Bioenergy crop production and harvest will improve groundwater and/or surface water quality and/or quantity. 17. Bioenergy crop production and harvest will improve and/or conserve biodiversity. 18. Bioenergy crop production and harvest will increase carbon sequestration in cropland. Biomass Collection, Refining, and Processing 19. Biomass collection and energy production will not burden traffic, road construction, and rail use. 20. Biomass collection and energy production will not emit particulate matter, dust, or other emissions that could impact human or animal health. 21 Biomass collection and energy production will produce byproducts that can be recycled or used. 22. Biomass collection and energy production will not increase greenhouse gas emissions 23. The facility has the potential for conservation or co-generation. 5

6 III. SOCIAL QUESTIONS Biomass Production 24. The public is supportive of the use of agricultural land or forest land for energy crop production. 25. The community as a whole will benefit from increased economic security of landowners producing the biomass. Biomass Collection, Refining, and Processing 26. Biomass collection/refining/processing will not place an increased demand on emergency response capacity (fire, ambulance, and rescue). 27. There are no foreseeable increased risks to the community environment (i.e fire or hazardous spills) that would result from a biomass collection/refining/processing facility. 28. The facility will not cause increased noise disturbance. 29. The existence of a bioenergy facility will improve the quality of life of community residents (schools, existing businesses, property values, jobs). 6

7 Community Preparedness Section Sections IV, V, & VI To complete the assessment, please check the circle that best reflects your level of agreement with the stated item. If you strongly agree with the statement check the far left circle. If you are not as strongly in agreement with the statement check one of the boxes on the right side of the scale. If you don t know the answer, check the far right circle. SA Strongly Agree A Agree D Disagree SD Strongly Disagree? Don t Know IV. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND LABOR FORCE 30. Our community has completed a "Community Profile" (fact sheet) that includes basic information about the community (e.g. major employers, education, health care, population, services). 31. Our community has current (within the last three years) labor force information for wages and benefits, labor supply, training opportunities and employment data. 32. New or expanding employers would be able to find adequate numbers of qualified employees in our labor area. 33. Our community has a technical college within a 30-minute drive that provides programs or resources keyed to the needs of local employers. 34. Our community has the support of a two- or four-year college or university that provides programs or resources keyed to the needs of regional communities/employers. 7

8 V. INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY 35. Our community has an infrastructure capital improvements plan for the next five years that will support the facility. 36. Adequate, appropriately zoned land is owned/optioned by the bioenergy developer or by the community for the facility. 37. A copy of site restrictions and covenants for the site is readily available for community members to review. 38. There are adequate utilities to the site (water, electric, gas, sewer). 39. An environmental assessment is required for the proposed facility. 40. The highways serving our community are adequate for the proposed facility and existing/future manufacturing and distribution operations. 41. Our community has adequate common carrier trucking services for the proposed facility and existing/future manufacturing and distribution operations. 42. Active rail lines effectively serve at least a portion of the proposed site for the bioenergy facility. 43. The community and/or developer has satisfactory access to or control of an environmentally sound waste disposal site for the expected life of the facility (e.g. 30 years). 8

9 44. Our electrical and/or natural gas utility have agreed to purchase excess energy and to pay competitive rates. 45. Our community will have access to energy produced by the proposed facility. VI. Financial Resources 46. Ag/forest related cooperatives and other local lenders are supportive of value-added projects including bioenergy. 47. Local government is aware of, and has usefully implemented, municipal financing vehicles to assist economic development efforts such as Tax Incremental Financing (TIF), Business Improvement Districts (BID) and Industrial Revenue Bonds IRBs). 48. Our community has successfully submitted proposals for state and/or federal funding for development programs, for housing and/or for infrastructure development. 9

10 Dealing With Your Donʼt Know Responses Now that you have completed the assessment, go back and list the items below where you checked the Don t know box, and indicate what additional information will need to be located. Indicate who in the community might have detailed information on this particular indicator or where you might go to find additional information (follow the first example which focuses on the issue of technical college training programs): Question # Contact Name Position/affiliation #33 John Doe Community College Director Identifying topics for Discussion If you have identified a number of issues ( strongly disagree responses), you might want to consider addressing these issues first. Review the questions where you responded strongly disagree and then list the issues that will need to be addressed by the community or a steering committee: Question # Issue: 10

11 Action Planning Steps Think about an action plan for addressing the priorities identified above as needing additional attention by the Community. Your action plan will require you to think about the issue in a series of steps/tasks: Task By when? By whom? Will Do What? How will we know we have succeeded? 11